SPORTSSHOOTER.COM has published an article by freelance photographer Tom Dahlin who shot some unusual, and quite beautiful, infrared images on assignment for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. Dahlin describes how he used a Canon EOS D60, modified to record infrared light, in conjunction with an Elinchrom flash that was filtered to emit only infrared illumination.

LPA Design is prepping for release the PocketWizard PLUS II, a replacement for the entry-level PLUS wireless radio remote that melds transmitting and receiving functions into a single unit while also beefing up its usability in remote camera + strobe installations.

Camera Bits today has released a public beta version of Photo Mechanic 4.4.3, the next release of the pro photo browsing software for Mac and Windows. Highlighting the list of changes is the ability to upload directly to a PhotoShelter account in Photo Mechanic on both platforms, improved CD/DVD burning in the Windows version and numerous other fixes and enhancements. The Mac version of 4.4.3 also marks the return of RAW conversion to the program after a several-year absence, this time utilizing the RAW support built into the Mac OS.

Apple has announced its second Intel-based laptop, the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which will ship with a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor. It will become available starting next week for a suggested list price of US$2,799.

Over the weekend initial sketchy reports have hardened into confirmed news that Mamiya O/P Co. Ltd. (Mamiya Japan) will be transferring its Optical Equipment Division, which makes Mamiya cameras and lenses, to a new company, Cosmo Digital Imaging Company, Ltd.

The Photo District News/Nikon Self-Promotion Awards, which honor self-promo campaigns produced by professional photographers, are now accepting entries. Submissions must be received by PDN no later than May 24, 2006 (or June 7, 2006 if you're willing to pay a $10 late fee).

PictureCode today has posted Noise Ninja 2.1.1 beta 1 of the standalone version of the company's powerful noise reduction software. In addition to minor bug fixes, version 2.1.1 is being released for several different platform types, including Macs with Intel processors.

The release of both Nikon Capture NX and Nikon View Pro, two new software applications announced by Nikon this past February 21st, has been delayed. The debut of Capture NX has slipped from May 2006 to July 2006 and Nikon View Pro has slipped from May 2006 to an undetermined later date.

The 2006 Pulitzer prizes have been announced with the staff of The Dallas Morning News winning the Breaking News Photography award and Todd Heisler of the Rocky Mountain News taking the Feature Photography prize.

The ship date for the Giga Vu Pro evolution is now the end of May 2006, says Jobo AG marketing representative Michaela Dietrich. At the PMA trade show in late February of this year, Jobo staff were anticipating an April 2006 rollout, but a delay in the commencement of full production of the photo storage device has also meant a slippage in the release date.

Jens Dresling has been a news photographer every working day of his life. He sold his first picture when he was 15, to his tiny hometown newspaper in Elsinore, Denmark, the same town where, centuries earlier, another young man, called Hamlet, had some family troubles. But even after 25 years in the business, Dresling, today a staffer at the daily broadsheet Politiken, remains committed to making good pictures. We look at how he challenges himself to stay fresh.

Along with the release of Aperture 1.1 for Mac, Apple has published an expanded version of the user guide for the software as well as several other documents designed to get photographers up to speed with the new version.

Extensis has updated the RAW file support in Portfolio 8 for both Windows and Mac, as well as added a new file filter that enables the Windows version of Portfolio to catalog Microsoft Word and Excel documents.

The official release of Capture One 3.7.4 (in PRO, LE and DB flavours) is slated for April 20, 2006, says Trine Voss, VP for Sales and Marketing of the software at Phase One, and will be a free update for licensed users.

Rentglass.com rents Canon EOS lenses (and Nikon soon) online and will ship them to any of the 48 continental U.S. states. The company rents optics for periods of one to three weeks at prices, including 2-way shipping, that appear to be modestly lower than typical big-city rental houses. Super-telephotos, however, are not on their menu.

Bibble Labs has released v4.7 of both the Pro and Lite editions of its RAW workflow/conversion application, Bibble, which is available in versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This update incorporates automated image optimization technology called Perfectly Clear from Athentech Technologies and adds support for the Canon EOS 30D and the Olympus E-330.

Apple today released a public beta of Boot Camp, software that will allow Windows XP to boot on Intel-based Macs. It's available for download now as a limited time trial. The final version of Boot Camp will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard".

Mac OS X 10.4.6, released today as a free update for Macs running an earlier version of OS X 10.4.x, slightly changes the TIFFs exported from Aperture. Specifically, exported TIFFs will now contain the EXIF shooting data found in the source picture. In addition, Aperture will no longer quit unexpectedly when exporting a file with keywords that contain twelve or more Cyrillic characters.

The Online Photographer, a 5-month-old blog run by longtime photography writer Mike Johnston, is regularly turning out interesting, eclectic, and thoughtful posts -- from Mike and several other contributors -- on a wide range of matters photographic. We check it often and are usually glad we did.

Photographer Craig Minielly has added an unbelievable new set to his collection of portrait treatment and production Actions for Photoshop. Called Naturalizers, the addition to the Craig's Actions line employs nano-pixel mapping technology - co-developed with NASA - to enable the removal of items of clothing from a subject, all at the touch of a button and without resorting to time-consuming and elaborate retouching techniques. UPDATE, APRIL 2: Yes, this was an April Fool's Day prank, and yes, we were in on it!